But James C. Brown denied them that little bit of satisfaction by staying in his cell at the Macomb County Jail and sitting out his sentencing to mandatory life imprisonment.

It was a highly unusual but legal move in a high-profile case - the 2011 killings of four Detroit women dubbed the Backpage.com murders because Brown met all four victims through the adult-oriented classified ad website.

"He should have gave us the common courtesy and respect," said Denise Higgins, the mother of victim Vernithea McCrary and the first of two people to speak during sentencing in Macomb County Circuit Court. "But the guy has no respect."

Judge James Biernat Jr. twice called Brown "nothing but a coward" and said "it's almost like he's getting a break" with the life sentence. When he asked Brown's attorney, Jeff Cojocar, if he had anything to say about Brown, Cojocar said "no."

Brown's only comments came through the last line of a written statement to probation that was read in court by Assistant Prosecutor Therese Tobin.

"I know what I'm looking at, so it doesn't matter about sentencing. I know I'm getting natural life," Brown said in the statement Tobin read.

Brown, 26, of Sterling Heights was convicted of killing McCrary, Renisha Landers, Demesha Hunt and Natasha Curtis. Wayne County medical examiners testified that the women were believed to have been asphyxiated or they suffered an asphyxiation-type of death.

Police said Brown lured the women, all in their 20s, to his mother's Sterling Heights home where he killed them in two separate incidents in a one-week period before Christmas 2011. He then loaded their bodies into the trunks of cars and dumped them in his old blighted neighborhood in Detroit.

A jury convicted him of 10 counts, including first-degree murder, earlier this year after a nearly monthlong trial. Tobin had called Brown a serial killer who got a thrill out of killing women.

The Rev. Wallace Murdock, Curtis' uncle, said he wished Brown had shown up. He wanted to "face the monster face to face." Murdock said he will follow his faith and pray for Brown and forgive him.

Curtis' aunt, Lisa Murdock, said she believes Brown "was ashamed" and that justice has been served.

Cojocar told the court that he met with Brown late last week and Brown told him that he did not want to participate in the sentencing. Cojocar told the court that it would "not be a conducive environment to be at" and confirmed for Biernat that Brown was waiving his right to be at his sentencing.

A county sheriff's lieutenant, who was present during the trial, told Biernat that he spoke with Brown at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Brown indicated that he did not wish to attend his sentencing.

Assistant Prosecutor Bill Cataldo cited case law about a defendant waiving the right to be present at trial and sentencing.

Higgins was the only one of the victims' relatives who stood before the court to make a statement. McCrary's father, Vernon McCrary, provided a written statement that a victim's advocate read.

Higgins, who remained composed, said she couldn't convey how much pain the families were going through. She talked about Vernithea McCrary's 7-year-old daughter and now 3-year-son, who is autistic and goes to a picture and asks for his mama.

"No child should have to go through that," Higgins said. "Someday, I'm gonna have to try to get them to understand."